I've also had some minor SSL-related issues with the latest extended kernel; VMware Workstation 6.5 wouldn't install unless I deleted the openssl executable in the temporary setup folder at the start of the installation.

Did you select XP-compatible winsock when installing the kernel (which I didn't)?

And if you want to try a new email client, look no further than MailNews, maintained by roytam1 of New Moon fame:

Some newer UEFI firmware doesn't like Windows 2000 running with ACPI or even just the SMP kernel, but it doesn't usually take the extended core to cause problems; any possible issues would usually manifest themselves during the initial setup though.

Given that it is a 0x7b BSOD, you should try to slipstream blackwingcat's IMSM 7.6 storage drivers (http://w2k.flxsrv.org/wlu/wlu.htm) which only need SP4 UR1/USP 5.1 to work.

Meh, reran setup with SP4 slipstreamed. This time around setup loaded when I selected "Advanced Configuration and Power Interface PC." So I blame using the files off my d600's OEM disc. It only comes equipped with SP2, so I installed SP4 after Win2k was setup. Clearly a no-go for ACPI, since I had to use Standard PC to set it up.
Installed everything else like normal, then fidgeted with hal, because even though I installed Extended Core 16a by running the setup exe as instructed, SFP kept being a meanie and didn't let the correct version get installed.
In addition, the Intel chipset usb drivers don't work (all the other chipset drivers do). But the generics included with Windows 2000 SP4 work after applying all the modifications and tweaks. The digitizer and finger touch even work out of the box (after configuring USB), but the pen doesn't offer the full 256 pressure levels. I should try to install the Wacom drivers for Xp and see how it goes.
So in the end, it was the fact it (the install) wasn't configured for ACPI. Most likely some other files were missing and the kernel defaulted to 0x7b since it couldn't find them, and they were hardcoded kernel files, so it assumed it couldn't access the boot drive as a result. Just my guess.

Lenovo X230t, meet Windows 2000. The only Windows OS other than NT4 or Win95 capable of driving the HR6000 with RasterPlus95. At long last I can retire the D600 w/ NT4. At least for this purpose.

If only I could get multiprocessor ACPI working and PAE that would be great. But they hang so...

Turns out I wasn't exactly right. Since it has been 5 months, I reinstalled my copy of CS6 Extended as a refresher.

I had to use English (U.S.), because installed as English (International) would complain about system requirements even if the OS identified as W7. Then it worked, without any debugger. Illustrator may be different, but again I think i tested them with v2.9i as opposed to the current v3.0b.

Bridge doesn't really work though. And identifying as W7/using registry hack to enable GPU acceleration makes some things like open interactions and UI elements kinda clunky.

@win32 said:
Turns out I wasn't exactly right. Since it has been 5 months, I reinstalled my copy of CS6 Extended as a refresher.

I had to use English (U.S.), because installed as English (International) would complain about system requirements even if the OS identified as W7. Then it worked, without any debugger. Illustrator may be different, but again I think i tested them with v2.9i as opposed to the current v3.0b.

Bridge doesn't really work though. And identifying as W7/using registry hack to enable GPU acceleration makes some things like open interactions and UI elements kinda clunky.

I'm taking the time to modernise my Win2000 VM by these tricks, although @nick99nack had helped me out with them personally. However, I should note that blackwingcat's Extended Kernel Project didn't work for me fully as somehow, the "Windows 2000 Power Tools" folder on the Start Menu didn't appear at all when it should've. This happened because it was looking for a specific IE6 update, which is now installed. However, since its installation, I've came across the following issues:

At startup, I get an error message that MSVCR90.dll can't be found (which is to do with FINDFAST.EXE, as part of Microsoft Office)

Windows Update is now borked (as the system tray icon for it keeps disappearing when I click on it, and the same again when coming back seconds later, and that the web page for it can't find new updates either).

Finally, I can't install Firefox 52 ESR even though it went past the extraction phase

Strange, the only way I could get CS6 was to install the international version because North America (as recommended) kept complaining about system requirements in the error log. Then again I don't have extended, so....
It's a wee sketchy with some graphical glitches, but it's usable. Install office 2003 and a better browser and this is all I need.

Currently looking for a way to backport tablet pc input service from Xp.

EDIT: Installed the Wacom drivers from XP. Didn't work. So I removed them. For some reason Wacom's input service (Wacom ISD Service) remained which tracks better than Xp's. Also provides palm interference resistance when resting the hand on the screen using the pen. (many dual touch and pen screens move the cursor around when resting the palm on the screen until the pen comes in a certain proximity. painful when sketching) Finger touch and hold to right click works and also has the indicator. As well as the right click button on the pen.
I still don't have pressure sensitivity or eraser detection. I will find a way.

Also the screen buttons driver works, so I can use the security button to unlock the computer or send ctrl-alt-delete in tablet mode. Orientation changing doesn't work.
Altogether, Windows 2000 is more than usable in tablet orientation. Much more so than I anticipated.
And with explorer toolbar set to large icons and show text labels buttons are large enough to be usable, actually more so than the ribbon in Win8+. But not big enough to consume an inordinate amount of screen space. (the ribbon)

@Bry89
I'm compiling a log of the steps I took to get a modernized 2k on my x230t as well as steps I took to get around quirks, some of which you mentioned. Should work well for a VM. So stay tuned.

@Bry89 said:
I'm taking the time to modernise my Win2000 VM by these tricks, although @nick99nack had helped me out with them personally. However, I should note that blackwingcat's Extended Kernel Project didn't work for me fully as somehow, the "Windows 2000 Power Tools" folder on the Start Menu didn't appear at all when it should've. This happened because it was looking for a specific IE6 update, which is now installed. However, since its installation, I've came across the following issues:

At startup, I get an error message that MSVCR90.dll can't be found (which is to do with FINDFAST.EXE, as part of Microsoft Office)

Windows Update is now borked (as the system tray icon for it keeps disappearing when I click on it, and the same again when coming back seconds later, and that the web page for it can't find new updates either).

Finally, I can't install Firefox 52 ESR even though it went past the extraction phase

Any form of help would be most appreciated.

MSVCR90 is the Visual Studio 2005 Runtime. Perhaps reinstalling that will help? I've never tried to install these kernel updates after having applications installed.

@Bry89, to fix the MSVCR90.dll error, replace the riched20.dll in \WINNT\system32 with the one from your Windows 2000 installation media or XP SP3, by using 7zip to extract it from the riched20.dl_ file.

The "Windows 2000 Power Tools" folder gets made when I install the extended kernel on my workstation, but not on my T60 oddly enough. However, you will find them in %systemroot%\WINNT.

@win32 That's done the trick, and I happen to have 7-Zip installed anyway so that came in handy And although I can't see the Power Tools folder myself, I can tell that it left its mark anyway... with the inclusion of the My Music and My Videos folders.

A few tips for the aspiring 2k user:
If you plan on using CS6 programs DO NOT install this
"Windows2000-UpdateRollup2-x86-ENU"

It will cause CS6 to generate application errors preventing it from running. They will occur regardless of whatever compatibility thing you use, setting or program. I botched my 2000 setup with it and you can't remove it without breaking everything (and to the point you can't reinstall tweaks). It doesn't matter when you install it. Trust me, I tested a variety of installation orders (the order you install various tweaks), each one causing CS6 not to work. Just avoid it. It's not like it brings anything special to the table anyways. And there is no doubt other programs will be broken as well.

Also, with some Realtek HD audio devices, you must install the drivers BEFORE installing USP5.1. For some reason USP5.1 breaks detection and addition of a new mixer. So even though everything (hd audio hotfix and driver) is installed and "functional" you will not be able to play audio. I don't know if this affects other hd audio or non-hd audio devices. So best to install your audio driver, make sure it works, then install everything else and DO NOT touch the audio driver. Best not to slipstream USP5.1 if you have HD audio as a precaution, stick with SP4 slipstreamed.
Then install USP5.1 in safe mode. For some reason, Realtek drivers and services cause USP5.1 setup to hang on "Running processes after install". I've ended the process and rebooted the computer seemingly without repercussion, but take that with a grain of salt. Just do it right the first time and you won't have any problems.
As pointed out earlier, I too had to install kernel3x 3.0b twice before the "Power Tools" came up in Start Menu.

Your experience may vary. You VM kind probably won't experience half the troubles I (or others) experience with 2k on comparably modern hardware.

Both programs rely on an assortment of apis not present within 2k. Manga Studio allows flawless acceleration and CS6, well works.

To completely avoid USP 5.1 (which apparently has buggy USB 1.1 drivers) whilst keeping the KB919521 CPU heat-related tweak and 48bit LBA enabling in setup, and even gaining some XP POS updates, you may be interested in the HFSLIP 2000 FullPack: https://windowsarchives.com/hfslip/

Please note that you should preferably use nlite before HFSLIP 2000, or else strange errors will ensue when installing if you nlite after HFSLIP (even for only slipstreaming SATA drivers). I just did my first successful installation on my T60 this week.

And yes, I had experienced the same problems with realtek/soundmax HDA drivers (down to the USP 5.1 setup freezing), though things worked when I slipstreamed both KB888111-w2k and USP 5.1. I don't usually slipstream non-textmode drivers, because they never work; maybe USP 5.1 messes that up.

To introduce myself, I used to be a long time Win2000 user (but have since switched to using more modern OSes as a daily). Anyway, my curiosity has recently been reignited. My plans are to build a system around the cheap LGA1356 aliexpress motherboards, and an Ivy Bridge Xeon CPU, and I'm planning to install Windows 2000 there. When the machine materializes, I'll update you about it.

Anyway, to add to the post, you can use the HFSLIP-2000 tool from tomasz86 to create your own fully updated Windows 2000 ISO from a standard SP4 source. This needs no further official updates - just the extended kernel and core, and all of the multiprocessor heating issues are mitigated.

Hope this helps. I have a couple of W2k VMs that I run tests on regularly, all with MPS set up. And I have a laptop, so I know when things can get toasty, lol. But that machine will be my physical test-bed.

I should also add that newer BIOS compatibility with W2k MPS is rather sketchy as shown above (i've had my share of machines with similar issues), but I've found that old school standardized BIOSes almost never fail - and ASRock motherboards seem to be a good bet (for desktop PCs). Sometimes disabling random resources in the BIOS (e.g. Serial or Parallel Port) can fix the issue. The board I'm getting has the old school Award/AMI BIOSes, so I'm not too concerned about W2k compatibility.

I use a Xeon X5670 (westmere) in my workstation with win2k. Things are fine and dandy with the KB919521 reg tweak applied until returning to the OS after standby; Enhanced Speedstep stops functioning and HLT commands are no longer sent to the CPU, which caused my idle CPU temps to increase from ~35 C to nearly 80 C!

Increasing idle fan speed and disabling turbo frequencies helped mitigate that issue. It may be possible to install the driver that handled speedstep natively in XP though, which is likely intelppm.sys, as those drivers have no missing dependencies even in a non-excore system. the driver provided by Intel for 2000 is prpc.sys and doesn't work with anything newer than Core Duo.

There's also been some progress in installing XP on super-modern platforms like Z370, first with BIOS modding and now a modified acpi.sys, which is available on the win-raid forums. If the extended core is slipstreamed into the install media, that may be usable for win2k as well, which may help out with any problematic BIOSes.

From the first post, I've decided to obtain and install Boingo Wireless on my Win2000 VM, only with the intention to browse the net under it rather than my host system in the near future. However, there is no Wi-Fi card present so obviously I will need a Wi-Fi driver or something, as long as there is one compatible for the OS (and I'm sure there is). If anybody can help with this, I'd appreciate it.

EDIT: I had also make it connect with "Intel WiFi Link 1000 BGN" (under Networking, and of it being the physical driver of my system) but that didn't work, when I thought it would.